Audi A3 Facelift Launched in Pakistan – All You Need to Know!

Back in August this year, after Audi Pakistan closed bookings for 2016 A3, PakWheels predicted that the launch of A3’s mid-cycle update in Pakistan was just around the corner. Now as Pakistan’s car launch bandwagon of 2016 continues to gain momentum, Audi has finally opened bookings for the 2017 A3 facelift.

So What’s New?

Exterior & Interior

Keeping in line with the general trend of facelifts and updates; form factor, core design and exterior dimensions remain consistent with A3 from last year. The most noticeable design changes come in the shape of a wider front grille and a re-sculpted bumper.

Audi A3 Mid-Cycle Update

Both the grille and the bumper are further complimented by A3’s newly designed flatter looking LED sequential matrix headlights, which now come standard and replace A3’s projector halogen headlamps from last year.

Audi A3’s New LED sequential matrix headlamps in action

As with the international release, the most noteworthy update in the rear exterior of A3 arrives in the form of new tail-lamps, which follow a slightly tweaked pattern that can be seen in action in the following photo.

Audi A3’s taillights in action

Back in August, in a post by PakWheels, while comparing the internationally available pre/post facelift A3, we mentioned that the only significant difference in the interior of updated A3 is the presence of Audi Virtual Cockpit, which is essentially a 12.3-inches color display that replaces the conventional information cluster. However for us, there is some bad news since, upon confirmation from a representative of Audi Pakistan, it has been confirmed that we won’t be getting the “Audi Virtual Cockpit” inside the new A3, at least for now. Surprisingly, Audi Pakistan will also not make Virtual Cockpit available as an option. So if you order an A3 right now, Audi leaves you no choice but to resort to a regular set of gauges.

As of now, Audi Pakistan is only offering the 1.2-liter TFSI variant for updated A3. While the 1.2-liter TFSI of the previous A3 was applauded for its price in Pakistan, it did also become subject to criticism for its lack of power. As far as the updated A3 is concerned, despite carrying a similar engine essentially to the car it is succeeding, Audi has been able to squeeze out extra 4-5 horses taking the total to a modest 109-hp, while torque figures are left unchanged at 175-Nm. Keeping in line with a single available engine, Audi will only offer one transmission for the facelifted A3 – a 7-speed S-Tronic. As far as claims stretch, Audi Pakistan is claiming that A3 will be able to sprint from standstill to 100km/h in under 9.5 seconds, which is 0.5 seconds quicker than Audi’s previous claims for the pre-facelifted A3. The fuel consumption estimates released by Audi Pakistan also show a modest increase of 0.1-litre per 100km.

Under the hood of 2017 Audi A3 Facelift

Pricing, Availability & Optional Equipment

As for the price, back in August along with speculating A3 facelift’s launch, we also anticipated a hike in its price. Keeping with our expectation A3’s price tag did receive a PKR 150,000 increase taking it all the way up to PKR 4,000,000. However, when you put things into the perspective of features, the sub 150,000 rupees increment doesn’t seem all that bad, especially when considering that inside the PKR 4 million price you get LED headlamps as standard, which was previously available optional for PKR 300,000.

Audi A3 Facelift in Pakistan

While the available optional equipment remains virtually unchanged, there are some new entrants to the list. First of which, is the availability of Audi Drive Select as an optional feature, which can now be bought for an extra PKR 150,000. Audi Drive Select predominantly integrates technical components of the car that can be adjusted by the driver through a selection of one of the three available drive modes i.e. comfort, auto and dynamic.

Audi A3 Mid-Cycle Update in Pakistan’s Optional Equipment

In addition to this, Audi Pakistan has replaced the previously available “Function Package 2” with a new “Exclusive Line” which for PKR 750,000 combines the components of “Design Line” with individual optional features like Parking System Plus, Bang & Olufsen Sound System and Comfort Key. Surprisingly enough, Audi Pakistan once again decided to drop “Comfort Key” (which is essentially Audi’s equivalent to smart entry) as a standard feature that means you will need to shell out an extra PKR 200,000 over the 4 million rupees price-tag.

Currently, Audi Pakistan has only started booking the face-lifted A3, and the first batch of deliveries along with showroom displays are expected to take place in December this year.

Adan is a Guest Writer at Dawn.com and a Member of Board at Nixor Corporate. Previously, he has served as CEO of The Nixor Times along with contributing to PakWheels.com. He is a student at Nixor College, set to pursue an undergraduate degree in Journalism at Northwestern University. He tweets @adanali12